Hello, this is Director Nakagawa.
I don't think there is anyone who has n't experienced communication loss in their daily work, such as "I told you, but you didn't do it" or "I didn't hear that ." Communication loss only has disadvantages and doesn't make anyone happy.
Why does communication loss occur, and how can we deal with it? In this article, I would like to introduce some concrete examples based on my own experiences.
1. The sentence is too long (or too short)
At Monosus, we use a chat tool called ChatWork for our work.
We use ChatWork to create group chats for different projects and purposes, and to communicate within the company. It's a very convenient tool because it allows for quicker and more casual communication than email, but often the messages are too long or too short, and the information isn't conveyed properly to the other person.
If the information is insufficient, additional time will be required to ask "What does this mean?" and to respond to that question, resulting in wasted time.
Too long sentences
This is a pattern where you type out everything you want to say and send it without editing. If the text is long, the reader has to put in effort just to read it, and by the time they get to the last sentence, they may forget what was said at the beginning and not know what they had to do after all.
In that case, the text can be made much easier to read by inserting appropriate line breaks, creating lists such as "." or "1.", or adding headings using "■".
Before (The text is too long and it's hard to get the gist of it.)
Regarding the matter I mentioned earlier,
I told you that the response would be within the next week,
After that, at the client meeting, we learned that we needed to get internal approval by the beginning of next week,
I would like to have this dealt with within this week, so I would like to have a meeting tomorrow or so.
Thank you very much.
After (The conclusion is at the beginning, and the contents are easy to understand in bullet points)
I'd like to discuss the schedule for the XXX that I mentioned earlier.
I had told you that the response would be within next week, but I would like it to be done within this week.
(Reason: There is a client meeting and I need to get internal approval by the beginning of next week.)
・We would like to hold a meeting tomorrow. Is that convenient for you?
Thank you very much.
Sentences that are too short
On the other hand, when you want to request a correction, if it only says "Please correct XXX," then there will be a lot of things that are unclear.
- When does the correction need to be made?
- Where is the documentation for the fix?
- Once completed, what should I do with the corrections?
Even if you plan to provide additional information verbally after sending the document, there will be omissions if you do so only verbally, so you should still include a certain amount of information, even if it is just in bullet points.
2. Lack of information in the materials
When you cannot fully explain something using only text such as email, you may want to create explanatory materials using Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. However, using these tools does not guarantee everything.
If you don't use the tools properly, you might not be able to convey accurate information to the other party, and you might have to create materials to explain the materials you worked so hard to create.
If you use Word
When exchanging manuscripts and other documents using Word, it is important to record the revision history and clarify "which parts of the text have been changed and how." If you do not do this, the other party may not be informed of the changes and corrections may be missed, so it is necessary to devise a way to make the changes clear.
If you use Excel
When managing assignments and other things in Excel, you can use filter and sort functions to make tasks easier to see. However, you cannot fit too much information into one cell (putting too much makes it difficult to see), so you need to avoid cramming too much information into one cell and instead increase columns and rows to separate the information to improve visibility.
If you use PowerPoint
PowerPoint is a very easy-to-use tool because it allows you to easily insert images and other data. It is a very easy-to-use tool when there are only a few slides, but as the number of slides increases and updates are made repeatedly, it becomes difficult to see the changes, just like with Word. Therefore, it is necessary to use revision history records and comments to clarify "when" and "where" changes were made.
So, if the text and materials on ChatWork are perfect, is there no problem? Of course not. Even if they were perfect, there are still many hidden factors that can cause losses.
3. Differences in Perception
For example, you may say, "I want this correction done by tomorrow evening," and get the other person's approval. But there may be a misunderstanding there as well.
The one who asked
I would like to complete this correction by 5pm tomorrow and deliver it around 7pm after the client has confirmed it.
The person who was asked
The goal is "until the evening," which means work will begin around 5 p.m. and the corrections will be completed by 6 p.m. at the earliest, or 7 p.m. at the latest.
Even with the same sentence, there will be differences in understanding depending on the position of each person, resulting in loss. Therefore, when asking someone to do something, you can reduce the difference in understanding by "communicating as concisely and accurately as possible, and if possible, informing them in advance of any work that may occur after the request."
4. Lack of reporting and confirmation
Even if the instructions and materials are sufficient, there will always be points of uncertainty or doubt as you proceed with the work. If you proceed with the work with the assumption that "it will be like this" or "this will be fine", you will end up with a huge loss after the work is completed because it is "wrong". In some cases, you may even have to stay up all night working on it.
The party receiving the request should check even small things "just to be sure," and the party making the request should "communicate" and report progress frequently to prevent losses before they occur.
5. Peace of mind in the company
When making a request within the same company, there is a sense of security due to the physical proximity and the fact that the people involved are members of the same company, but depending on the time and situation, this can have a negative impact.
Many times, workers feel secure thinking, "We will ultimately show this to the client, but someone in-house will check it first," or "Since it's in-house, it won't be a problem if it's a little late," which leads to neglecting work and checking, resulting in greater losses than usual.
As I wrote in my previous article, "A former coder-turned-director's thoughts: How to smoothly direct within a company," careful direction is especially important within a company.
The important thing is not to be lazy
Ever since I was a child, I've been lazy and hated wasting things. That hasn't changed even as an adult, and I find myself thinking every day about how I can achieve the same results in less time.
However, if I simply find it too much of a hassle, it will (again) result in bitter memories like the one mentioned above, so I try to reduce future waste by being more creative with the way I write small sentences and prepare documents in my daily work (even if it is a bit of a hassle).
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